


Breaking Story: You Have My Heart

by wickedcacklelaugh



Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-06-03 18:22:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6621358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedcacklelaugh/pseuds/wickedcacklelaugh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A/U: Liz Hart works for a news station.  She has for several years now. What happens when a new foreign reporter  strides into her life and tries to make the top story of her hour?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to the Madhouse

 

Liz sighed and stared at her computer monitor.  She was watching the police scanners but it was a slow day. The most exciting call was a cat stuck in a tree wearing a bra on its head. Liz really did not want to know how or why the cat had a bra.

She stretched her arms above her head- yawning, and was lightly pushed back into place. With a start she looked up and grinned at the person staring at her.

“Today is so lame,” Amelia, her co-worker, roommate and partner in crime mused, leaning back against the desk sipping a cup of coffee.

“I hate slow news days,” Liz agreed, allowing her eyes to settle on the police scanner screen.

“Cat in a tree again?”

“Probably Mr. Stuart’s cat,” Liz sighed.  Amelia wrinkled her nose. “What was the cat wearing this time?”

“A bra.”

“Gross.”

“What’s gross?” A new voice joined the conversation. Luca pulled up an empty chair and swiveled it around, sitting on it backwards- his arms leaning on the backrest.

“A cat in lingerie” Amelia stated, flatly.

“Awesome.”  He snickered. “Stuart?”

“Yup,” Liz groaned. “They just told dispatch his address.”

 

“I would love to interview that man; he must have had such an amazing, life. Think of all the stories he could tell us,” Luca stated twirling in the chair.

“I’m sure Mr. Stuart has better things to do than talk to us,” Elias, another co-worker interjected, walking by the group. “What are you guys doing anyhow?”

“Slow day- Liz saw on the scanner that Stuart’s cat is in a tree, again. Wearing a bra this time,” Amelia said.

“If bestiality floats you boat Luca, please don’t tell us,” Elias sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

 

“Don’t you have work to proofread?” Luca snorted.

“No, because you are all here, NOT working.”

“Where’s Yukiya?” Liz asked, looking up at Elias and gave him a small smile.  The blond man put up with a lot from everyone, making sure all the stories sounded polished, and he also was a fill-in anchorman.  He and Luca never saw eye to eye.  Elias’ family owned half the city, and yet he just worked his daily job along with his older brother Klaus, who was an air traffic reporter.  Lucas had stated countless times that he just couldn’t understand it. If he had even a fourth of the Goldstein money he would so not be a reporter.

“He’s checking the fronts- apparently we’re going to get a cold spell this week. It might snow,” said Elias, narrowing his eyes at Luca, who was pretending to sleep.

Amelia squeaked, “Yay! I love snow! It’s always fun to bundle up in layers and snuggle, drink hot coca.”

“Let me stop you there,” Vincent, their boss rounded the corner. “It just means overtime for you guys and the scanners and news stories will be going crazy.”

Vincent Knight was the one boss every employee dreamed of having. He was fair, funny and truly cared about his staff.   Not much older than most of the  crew- he took the time to learn every job- so if needed he could fill in, and there would be no chaos.

“Amelia, Eress is looking for you- she just finished with Joel’s makeup and now she’s ready to do yours,” the redheaded man said, flashing a kind smile.

“Okie dokie Boss!” Amelia laughed, ruffling Liz’s hair, before starting to leave.

 

“Oh wait Amelia!” Vincent stated- holding his palm up. She turned and looked at him as he cleared his throat- the official sign that it was now a business meeting.

“I am actually glad most of you are here, we actually have a new employee, and he will be one of our reporters, now that Loren has moved to the early morning shift.  His name is Azusa Kuze. Please be nice to him…Luca,” Vincent said holding his arm out and a regal looking man rounded the corner.

Liz felt he breath catch in her throat. Azusa had long brown hair that was pulled into a low ponytail, sky blue eyes and high cheekbones with a broad chest and arms, narrowed torso that seemed to flow into long legs. Almost as tall as Vincent- the man looked like a model.

“Hello, it is a pleasure to meet everyone. I hope we can work close and become a great team” he breathed lightly.

**_God, even his voice is sexy_**.  A snapping sound brought Liz to her senses. She had snapped a pencil in half she didn’t even realize she was holding.  Azusa stopped speaking and all eyes turned to her.

“I, uh, they are making cracks over the scanner about Mr. Stuart’s cat,” Liz muttered, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks.

Vincent chuckled, letting a hand clasp down on Azusa’s shoulder.  “Liz here is the woman you want to know, she’s the one who digs up the late breaking stuff and sends reporters like Luca and Serge to the sites.”

Elias noticed the change in Liz and discreetly poked her in the arm- or so he thought, the action did not go unnoticed by Azusa.

 

“Who’s Mr. Stuart?” he calmly asked the group in front of him giggled. 

“They will tell you all about him, Azusa. It’s a pleasure. I’m Amelia,” she said, shaking his hand quickly before waving and running in the direction of the makeup area, where her name was shouted.  

Azusa directed his blue gaze on Liz. She momentary forgot to breathe before flicking her eyes back to the computer screen. **_That gaze is so unfair_** _,_ she thought.

  “Mr. Stuart is our celebrity on the police scanner. His cat is always getting stuck in a tree, dressed up in costumes. Sometimes it a _Lord of the Rings_ elf, and last week it was a dragon. Today he was in a bra.”

Azusa lightly chucked. “I bet he has some stories to tell.”

“YES! SEE?!” Luca shouted, jumping up causing the chair to roll into Elias. “Be quiet!” Elias hissed- rubbing his knee.

“But, none of us can speak cat sadly enough” Azusa finished, looking at Liz. She grinned up at him- her cheeks a little red- what as this feeling in his stomach?

 

Vincent chuckled, casting a glare over to Luca and Elias. If looks could kill, one or both of them would be dead right now. They both sheepishly smiled at their boss.

“You start tomorrow Azusa; in the meantime- let’s get you up to Leon in payroll. Bye guys, as always, you do a great job, now get back to work!”  said Vincent, guiding Azusa by the shoulder. He waved and was lead into the hallway.

 

“Hey guys! What did I miss?” chimed a new voice, belonging to Yukiya.

“Just met the new guy, he seems nice,” Elias answered.

“I met him briefly. Seems like an okay guy,” Yukiya remarked, scratching behind his ear.

“So what is this I hear about snow?” Luca asked, eyes narrowing. Liz knew he hated snow.

 

“We’re going to get hammered next week it looks like. At least 3 ft. of snow,” Yukiya explained- going into full on weatherman mode. “The warm front we were hoping to get fizzled out, so now it’s letting all the cold air in, and its going snow, hard.  Probably to a point where we might want need to prepare to sleep here again.”

“We could always crash at Serge’s place again,” Elias said and Yukiya shook his head. “Negative, he’s rented out his second room to the new guy.”

 

“Luca! Grab the boys and go to Sky Lake Park, a boat overturned,” Liz exclaimed, grabbing her cell off the charging port and tapping on the screen.

“On it!”  He ran from the row of cubicles and out the side entrance shouting instructions as he went through the doors.

“Finally some action,” Elias laughed and patted Liz on the shoulder before jogging back to his office.

Liz watched him go as she was telling Vincent what happened. It might not be a big story, but it was going to be a good one.  She pulled back from her desk smoothing the back of her skirt and briskly walked over the news stage, totally unaware of blue eyes watching her retreating form


	2. Namaste, maybe?

Liz yawned slightly and stared out at the sun. It was early in the morning. She closed her eyes and slowly brought her arms crossed under one another. After a few breaths she brought herself onto all fours before jutting her body upright into a downward dog position.

 

“Good morning,” Amelia yawned, padding outside on the balcony where Liz was doing her morning yoga. “I have coffee for you.”

 

Liz grinned up at Amelia from her pose. “Thanks a mil.”

“You know, I don’t quite understand just how you can get your body to move like that. It just makes my bones ache watching you sometimes,”  Amelia giggled, watching Liz somehow balance her body on her stomach and reach her arms behind her- grabbing her ankles arching her body like a bow.

 

**

**

“I truly cannot thank you enough again Randy,” Azusa said from the kitchen, staring at his new friend from across the room.

“Think nothing of it, mate” Randy responded, as he leafed through the morning paper. “Serge said you needed a place to stay.”

“Glad you could help me,” Azusa laughed and brought two cups of coffee into the living room. “I don’t know why, but I’m rather nervous about today.”

“Eh, you’ll fight right in. We all get on each other’s nerves, but we’re a family. Now you’ll probably be shadowing everyone for the first week or so.  My advice, get to know Liz, tell her what you’re most comfortable with reporting- for instance- Luca is great at accident scenes. I’m good at anything to do with nightlife and animals. We report anything she tells us to go to, but those are our time to shine.”

Azusa smiled and sipped his coffee. “Seriously, thanks’ again for everything. I should get running though, I don’t want to be late on my first day.”

“Maybe on your second day,” Randy laughed and stretched out on the sofa, turning on the news station where Joel’s face came into view.

 

Azusa grinned and walked to the door, glancing at a picture on the wall. It was of Randy and Serge, their identical smiles, pink hair and larger than life personalities seemed to fill the frame.  Azusa had only known Serge, but if Randy was anything like his twin; maybe he should get that extra life insurance policy.  

___

Liz stood at her desk and shrugged off her pea coat.  The temperature had drastically dropped since her morning yoga and she feared that Yukiya may be right about the spring snowstorm.

Switching her computer on so it had time to load, she made her way to the breakroom heels clacking on the floor, “Morning Elias!”

“Good morning Liz,” Elias responded, handing her a coffee mug as she entered the breakroom.

“Mmm, thanks,” she hummed breathing in the contents.

“Three sugars and some French vanilla creamer,” Elias laughed, picking through the box of pastries that were on the counter.

“Any cheese danish?” Liz asked, peeking over his shoulder.  “Ooh thanks!” Elias handed her one and she patted his shoulder before waltzing out of the breakroom.

 

Coffee and breakfast in hand, Liz walked back to her desk. “Good Morning Azusa!” She chimed cheerfully. “There are pastries in the breakroom if you haven’t had breakfast yet.”

Azusa was walking towards his new desk when her attack of morning cheerfulness brought a smile to his face. ”You’re cheerful this morning.”

 

“It’s Friday! Which means it’s the weekend!” Liz laughed, setting her stuff down. “Come-on come get a pastry before they are all gone,” she waved for Azusa to follow her.

He grinned and laid his coat across his chair. “You sure you don’t want another pastry?” he teased.

She whirled around and winked at him holding her finger to her lips, “Shhh.”

 

“How do you like living with the March twins?” Liz asked, as he fell into step with her.

  
“Serge doesn’t get back from Africa for another 2 weeks, but honestly, I don’t see a difference, Randy is very nice and very hospitable so far. Serge was an exchange student that lived with my family for a few months back in high school. We would get into so much trouble. I half wondered if I should get extra insurance living with the two of them,” he laughed.

 

Liz grinned. “Vincent declares that all the time. Last year they built a prototype ‘ _abdominal snowman_ ’ robot.  It was supposed to fill in for Yukiya until Conrad started. Well, they programmed the wrong code in and it started wreaking havoc on the interns. It was so bad some guys from the government came in and took the robot- along with the blueprints and code from Randy and Serge.  He knew them by name too.”

Azusa nearly spit his coffee out.  He could just picture it; this robot causing chaos and the March twins giggling away until the government came in like a stern parent.

Liz seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. “We all asked them just how this man knew them and they responded ‘We won quite a few inventor contests when we were kids’ so I can only imagine what little terrors they were, and why they are working in news.”

 

Back at their desks, Azusa pulled out Liz’s chair for her, “Thank you for being so kind to me, it’s hard being the new guy. New country, new everything, it’s overwhelming.”

Liz blushed, “Oh, nothing too it- in fact we all usually go out to eat after work on Fridays'. Please join us. You’re one of the team now. Oh, and let me give you my number:  If you ever want a tour guide of the city.”

Azusa smiled. “I’ll hold you too that. In the meantime, I have new hire paperwork to drown over.”  He patted her shoulder lightly. _Maybe this move was a good thing after all_.

 

 


	3. Hey Bartender!

Chapter 3: Hey Bartender!

 

Friday passed with just basic news coverings.  Liz was more or less watching the clock on her computer click down to 5p. 

“Watching the clock Liz?” a voice boomed, causing her to nearly fall out of her chair.

“Vincent!” she breathed, placing a hand to her heart to calm her breathing before glaring at her boss.

He grinned, “It’s so unlike you to watch the clock. Have a hot date?”

“That is so unprofessional.” Liz rolled her eyes, not sounding the least bit offended.

“Hrm.” Vincent let his eyes wonder to Azusa who quickly adverted his gaze back to his computer screen- ears going slightly pink.

 

“Is the crew still going to McKs?” Vincent asked, poking Liz in the shoulder.

“Are you still bothering me with 10 minutes to go,” Liz sighed, glaring up at him.

“Ooh, someone’s cranky.”

“Don’t make me tell your mother.”

“Are you threatening your beloved boss?”

“No. But I am threating family.”

“INCONCIVIABLE!” Vincent bellowed and dramatically walked away, one hand on his heart the other on his forehead.

 

“Um,” Azusa stated, walking up beside Liz who now had her head in her hands.

“Huh? Oh Azusa, are you still joining us this evening?”

“I’d like too,” he smiled.

 

“It’s going to snow guys,” Yukiya bellowed walking in through the double doors, trailed by a few other people.

“Oh no.” Liz sighed.

“I have to stay- but everyone else is going. I’ll head over to McKs after the 6pm update.” Yukiya said, walking up to Liz. “It’s going to be bad, be careful.”

“You too Yukiya, want me to order the normal for you?”

“Yup. Bye you two,” Yukiya patted Liz on the shoulder and gave Azusa a small pat on the bicep as he walked over to makeup.

 

“I’m so confused,” Azusa laughed, shaking his head. “The weird conversation with you and Vincent I didn’t mean to overhear and now this?”

 

“Oh! Vincent and I aren’t really related. My parents died when I was around 11 and his parents fostered me until I was 18. You can say its friendly sibling rivalry. He was already getting ready to go to college when I came to live with them. But, he came home every single weekend and helped me through a tough time.  He’s my rock.” She smiled fondly.  “Yukiya and I went to high school together as well- most of us that work here did oddly enough.”

 

“Oh,” Azusa let his eyes fall down as he helped her shift into her pale pink pea coat.

“What about your family Azusa?”

 

“My parents died when I was young too. It was a few weeks after Serge left. I was 14; my brother died a few months after that. Thankfully you are considered an adult at 15 in my country, so I was pretty much able to rent a small room and finish school- go to college and here I am today.”

 

“Oh Azusa, I am so sorry,” Liz stated, reaching out and grabbed his hand; giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Life goes on, but thanks. I’m sorry as well,” he returned her gentle hand hold with one of his own. Her pretty pink stare was something he could feel getting himself getting lost in. So much compassion laid there, warmth, hope _. Good God. What is wrong with me?_

 

“Feed me!” Luca bellowed, clamping his hand down on both their shoulders, not noticing that they dropped hands.

 

“Let’s eat,” Liz laughed, and they walked out the door, greeting other co-workers as they made their way to the pub

 

*  
**  
***  
****  
***  
**  
*  


Hours later, after being holed up in a little pub on the corner, the remaining group of co-workers were laughing as they left the place with full bellies and slightly tipsy.

“That was excellent!” Elias laughed, twirling around in a circle.

“It was. LOOK it’s snowing!!” Luca exclaimed, opening his mouth and attempted to catch a snowflake on his tongue.

Liz giggled and stuck her tongue out too, trying to catch a flake.  “Gah!” she wailed, slipping on some ice, her arms wind-milling as she prepared herself for impact.

Impact never came; instead Azusa had caught her, “Whoa. You okay?”

Liz couldn’t think. His hands were her under her arms and she was pressed into his chest. He was more muscular than his sleek frame gave off and his scent smelled like a mix of peppermint, cinnamon and sandalwood. It was quite unnerving. _Quick Liz, say something! Anything!_

“I think the bartender made my drink stronger than usual,” Liz muttered, putting a hand to her face in embarrassment, still pressed up against Azusa.

Elias walked over and put his hand on her shoulder, helping the petite woman steady herself.  “Amelia’s already at your apartment, I’ll walk you home.”

“Thanks Elias. I only had one drink. Why am I so tipsy?” Liz locked eyes with Azusa. She could almost feel the sparks fly between them. It had to be the alcohol, had to be. “Bye, see you Monday.” Liz gave him a small grin and waved to the others as she turned to leave.

Azusa waved, watching her retreating form alongside Elias who had put his arm around her. _Why do I feel so jealous? Wait. Jealous?! Absurd. If I am jealous….oh bloody hell_.


End file.
